Malaysian Open: One-way ticket to see shirtless players under the equatorial sun

Eight players already announced their commitment to join the Malaysian Open scheduled this September - (pictures in sequence) Lleyton Hewitt, Robin Soderling, David Ferrer, Fernando Gonzalez, Nikolay Davydenko, Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco.

Malaysia is located near to the equator, so it's extremely hot and humid throughout the year.

Although the tournament is going to be held indoor, there's still high possibility that you'll see the players shirtless on and off court especially during practice, jogging and changovers.

Here's a preview of what you'll most likely see (I mean hot bods!) between September 26 to October 4, 2009.

If you like what you see, book your tickets now. Go to: http://malaysianopentennis.com/tickets.html

Be fast!

Shirtless Kei Nishikori hits the court

Here are some new shirtless photos of Kei Nishikori who went back to court recently after a series of arm injury.

Kei looks healthy and I think he's going back to tournament very soon.

(Images by IMG via Kei Nishikori's official website)

Grigor Dimitrov, Guillermo Coria spotted shirtless in Bangkok

It was hot and sunny in Bangkok.

And that can only mean one thing: good opportunity to spot Grigor Dimitrov and Guillermo Coria shirtless ;-)

They are right now in the capital of Thailand for the LTAT-SAT Bangkok Open tournament.

Both players received wildcards to play in this Challenger event.

(Images via pantip.com)

Updated: More pictures of Grigor found!

Shirtless ATP players at practice in Australia

China's Sun Tiantian reminded everyone in her blog that Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world.

So why are these players risk hitting under the hot sun shirtless???

Mario Ancic in Medibank International earlier this week.

Andy Murray during a practice at Melbourne Park.

Marat Safin at Melbourne Park.

Andy Roddick at Melbourne Park.

(Images via Zahirah's flickr page, Yahoo! Sports)

U.S. Open 2008: Can you feel the heat already?

It's the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year 2008.

Men's Singles
Have you check out the draw yet? Personally, I think Roger Federer has a better draw compare to Rafael Nadal. I would love to see the two along with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the semifinals.

If Andy Murray is able to achieve that far (he never made it through the quarterfinal in any Grand Slam before), he could improve his ranking from the current world no. 6 to world no. 4, provided how well David Ferrer (current world no. 4) and Nikolay Davydenko (no. 5) perform.

There has been much said about Juan Martin Del Potro for his recent winning streak, I'm still not convinced about his performance. I mean this guy has never really been tested on heavyweight matches like the U.S. Open. Same goes to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga who last made impact at the Australian Open earlier this year. So, I don't really see these guys as a threat to the top seeds.

For the complete men's singles draw, click here.

Women's Singles
While the women's draw looks pretty imbalanced, Dinara Safina could miss a chance here to win the U.S. Open being in the tough top half of the draw. Perhaps another rematch here between Safina and Elena Dementieva in the final? While I'm pretty confident with Safina's consistency, could one half of the Williams sisters perform well here on their homegrown?

Ana Ivanovic is back as the world no.1 and top seed. She has recovered from her thumb injury too. However, she has not been playing for weeks now. So, I believe she's not physically ready to take on the other girls yet especially she belongs to the top half of the draw. It's going to be another short stay for her as the world no. 1 again. As for Maria Sharapova, she's out due to shoulder injury.

For the complete women's singles draw, click here.

It's Always about the Shirtless Guys
Any great tennis tournament is never complete without seeing players practicing, especially when they are shirtless, isn't it? And I don't mean the women players of course. Here are some pictures for your eyes only.

Tommy Haas, one of the sexiest guy in men's tennis.

Tommy Robredo; Why are all the sexy tennis players named Tommy?

David Ferrer has to perform or see Andy Murray surpass him in the world ranking.

Will Marat Safin be able to repeat his outstanding performance in the recent Wimbledon?

(Images via U.S. Open website and andymurray.com)

What to wear to win at the Beijing Olympics?

Red is thought to bring good luck for Chinese and is the color of items ranging from packets of lucky money (ang pow) handed out at Lunar New Year to lanterns and wedding dresses.

In sports, Tiger Woods famously wears red on the last day of a golf tournament for luck.
And what do Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal's Beijing Olympic gears tell you? Gold medals in the making?
Perhaps Nadal has an extra edge over Federer. Check out the tribal markings at the back of Nadal's red shirt. Isn't that warrior motif already send out a strong message to his competitors? Could he be the luckier one?
Newlycrowned world no.1 Jelena Jankovic is wearing red too but I don't think she'll be the lucky one in the women's singles. Nah, it's not the threats from the Williams sisters nor Dinara Safina, but it's her awful 'milkmaid' red dress. That sends a bad chi, isn't it?

But you know what? Sometimes you don't have to wear red to be a winner. Janko Tipsarevic is one example. He might have lost in the second round to Olivier Rochus, but he's still a winner here (read: sexy and drives thousands of traffic to my blog). But having the combination of both like Federer would be the best.

(Images by Clive Brunskill/Julian Finney/Getty Images, mentennisforum.com)

More HOT photos from the tennis training session at the Beijing Olympics

This is the final batch of training sessions photos taken before the men and women tennis players battle for medals at the Beijing Olympics 2008 tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Here's the hot Kei Nishikori, the tennis prince from Japan. This one is specially dedicated to you, Esther!

And I know many Rafael Nadal's fans who googled their way into my blog, will never get bored of his sexy photo.

And I find Elena Dementieva (Russia) rather sexy here in these pictures. Good job in handling the ball, girl.

(Images via ITF, BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Shirtless tennis players: It's hot right here in Beijing!

The Olympics 2008 will start in less than 12 hours! But before that...

It was hazy and it was definitely hot in Beijing yesterday!

With that kind of weather, there's only one things for the ladies, shirtless players. Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Canas, Nicolas Massu, Fernando Gonzalez, Jonas Bjorkman, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal (pictures all in sequence) sure couldn't stand the heat and took their shirts off. Nadal's picture is a repeat from this post.

UPDATES: Checking the latest weather report, it's raining now in Beijing, which is good for the Opening Ceremony tonight.

(Images by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

More photos from the Beijing Olympics training session

Many tennis players are already in Beijing practising at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre.

Samantha Stosur (Australia), Roger Federer (Switzerland), Ana Ivanovic (Serbia), Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden), Rafael Nadal (Spain), Fernando Gonzalez (Chile), Zheng Jie (China) and Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) are among the players spotted here. All pictures are in sequence. Latest updates: Andy Murray.

Here's a bonus picture; Nadal shirtless!


(Images by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Gael Monfils through to the semis to meet Roger Federer @ Roland Garros

Spanish 5th seed David Ferrer bites the dust when he lost to the unseeded Gael Monfils who became the first Frenchman to reach the last four at Roland Garros for seven years with a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1.

"I prepared well for this tournament, I'm trying to take as much as pleasure as I can but also to keep focused. With the crowd and my family backing me, I feel very strong. I have raised my level progressively, I played beautiful tennis."

Monfils is now bidding to become the first home winner since Yannick Noah in 1983. He will meet world no. 1 Roger Federer tomorrow for a place in this Sunday's final.

Now Monfils sure has all the reasons to celebrate and join the shirtless players Hall of Fame.

(Images by AP Photo/ David Vincent/ Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)